FORT FRANCES, Ont. – The Thief River Falls Norskies saw defenceman Connor Kalthoff collect a pair of markers as part of an eventual 6-3 triumph over the Fort Frances Lakers Saturday in a Superior International Junior Hockey League encounter at Ice for Kids Arena.
The visiting Norskies came out quickly and skated out to a 2-0 lead after one period of play on tallies from Nick Harder and Kalthoff.
Fort Frances cut into the deficit with the only offensive effort in the second stanza when Flynn Perry converted on the power play at 11:05.
In the third, the Norskies saw Mason McIntosh knock in his 13th from the left of the net early in the session.
Up a skater after that, Kalthoff ripped one in from the high slot at 7:07, which proved to be the eventual game-winner.
Battling back, the Lakers saw Kiernan Bailey convert on a man advantage with six minutes remaining.
They then made it 4-3 at 16:23 thanks to Matthieu Harrold’s long range attempt through a screen.
Fort Frances then pulled their goaltender twice for an extra attacker, but Thief River Falls sealed the road decision with empty net efforts from Jack Michels and Josh Olson, with his first SIJHL goal, to wrap things up.
The goal for Michels, along with an earlier assist, saw him extend an impressive consecutive game point streak to 16 straight outings.
Shots on net favoured the Lakers 40-36 with Seth Purcilly getting the victory while Dean Buchholz stopped 30 of 34 in defeat.
Photo credit: Clint Bruyere